Farm-vehicle mystery solved

As promised in today’s column, the farm vehicle in the photo—er, excuse me, the implement of husbandry in the photo—is indeed a sprayer, as John Bell of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau had suspected.

Farmer Mark Lichtenwalner of Lower Magungie Township, and retired teacher Sanda Schantz of Upper Milford Township, whose husband is a farmer, both identified the vehicle as a high-clearance sprayer used to apply pesticides or other chemicals to corn when the plants are tall.

"Usually this type of sprayer is for pesticides, and the picture looks like it's set up for that application," Mark added. "It could be equipped with drop-nozzles for a mid-season application of nitrogen fertilizer. Another note on this equipment: This is an expensive sprayer that few farmers in the area can afford for limited use. Most likely, it's owned by a compnay doing custom sprays for local farmers, which also means more road travel."

Mark added a personal note relevant to the challenges posed by implements of husbandry being driven on the roadways, both to the farmers driving them and to "regular" motorists.

"I can tell you it's no fun driving farm equipment on area roads anymore," he said. "I'm guessing most people don't know what the slow-moving vehicle emblem means. In the past 20 years, my farm had a couple of accidents; in each case the other driver not only was impatient, but also was speeding. I can't tally all the close calls. The problem of moving farm equipment over the roads is one reason I gave up farming away from my home farm."

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about this blog

Morning Call Reporter and Columnist Dan Hartzell is The Road Warrior, defending the drivers of the Lehigh Valley and the roads on which they drive. E-mail questions about transportation in the Lehigh Valley and beyond to hartzell@mcall.com.